Key Highlights
Financial
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Group organic revenue growth (continuing) of 1.2% to £566.7m (H1 2012: £562.6m)
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Adjusted operating profit (continuing) up 2.7% to £162.0m (H1 2012: £157.7m)
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Improvement in H1 adjusted operating margin (continuing) to 28.6% (H1 2012: 28.0%)
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Adjusted diluted EPS growth (continuing) of 5.0% to 18.9p (H1 2012: 18.0p)
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Dividend increased - interim dividend raised 6.7% to 6.4p (H1 2012: 6.0p)
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Corporate Training disclosed as asset held for sale and results classified as discontinued
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Statutory loss for the period of £56.3m (H1 2012: £41.9m loss), reflecting loss from discontinued operations of £115.7m
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Strong cash flow - cash conversion rate (continuing) of 70% (H1 2012: 74%)
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Net debt/EBITDA ratio of 2.4 times (H1 2012: 2.3 times)
Operational
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Events division (continuing) organic profit growth of 18.6%
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147 large events run in H1, delivering double-digit organic revenue growth
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20% of Group revenue (continuing) from emerging markets in the last 12 months (H1 2012: 18%)
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Deferred income growth of 7% at constant currency
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Incremental cost reduction programme implemented at PCI
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Agreed disposal of Corporate Training businesses for up to USD 180m
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Exit from small conference businesses in Spain and Italy
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Appointment of Director of Open Access within Academic Information
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Chief Executive succession plan announced
Peter Rigby, Chief Executive, said:
"It has been a very busy six months for Informa that has resulted in another strong financial performance and further improvement to the underlying quality of earnings. The sale of our non-core Corporate Training businesses will leave us leaner and more resilient, with a sharper focus on higher growth assets offering an attractive return on capital. This is illustrated by the positive organic growth across our continuing operations in H1, the highlight of which was almost 19% organic profit growth in Events.
The outlook for the second half is good and after adjusting for modest dilution from the Corporate Training transaction, underlying expectations for the full year are unchanged. Encouragingly, there are some tentative signs of improvement in areas that have proved particularly tough in recent years, providing grounds for cautious optimism.
Our strong performance has led to another increase in the interim dividend, up 6.7% to 6.4p and our leverage remains comfortably within our target range at the end of June, before receiving the cash proceeds for Corporate Training.
I recently announced my intention to retire as Chief Executive at the end of the year. I have been with the Group for 30 years and feel now is the right time to hand over the reins, with Informa in great shape financially, operationally and culturally. Stephen A. Carter will take over as CEO from 1st January 2014, following a thorough handover process."
